This Day In Broadcast History

On this date in 1963, as the world grappled with the assassination of an American president, the BBC launched a new science fiction series called DOCTOR WHO. It became the longest-running sci fi series in the world and has been since seen by millions of Whovians around the planet.

Today, DOCTOR WHO celebrates its 60th anniversary. But 40 years ago, we celebrated with THE FIVE DOCTORS – a 20th anniversary special that ran on PBS stations mere hours after it debuted across the pond. That’s a feat easily accomplished today with digital broadcasting but back then it was more labor intensive and could have easily gone awry if a station missed a recording.

So hats off to sixty years of adventures in time and space!

Sounds Familiar

“What?! No, not the mind probe!” – The Castellan (Paul Jericho), DOCTOR WHO (“The Five Doctors”)

Wednesday Trivia Question

Who was Jon Pertwee’s first wife?

Actor Jon Pertwee will be best known to public television viewers as Doctor #3 on the long-running science fiction series DOCTOR WHO. His tenure was from 1970 to 1974 (five seasons, 128 episodes) but he also popped up in the 20th Anniversary adventure “The Five Doctors” in 1983 and the charity special “Dimensions In Time” produced ten years later.